E.Among the thorns of an orange tree, reminiscent of the crown his Son suffered, God wanted it to appear several centuries ago in the eastern end of these lands: the Mother of the Dominicans.
Sweet, patient and serene, she has guarded the faith of an entire people; tenderly redeeming our longing surviving in the random Caribbean of these parts. Very true to Hispaniola’s calling that no one knows why it was the first that made Providence Primada.
Wrapped in the colors that the Trinitarians would later give to the national flag, she released red, warning that there is a valid baptism in the sacrifice of the martyrs; and what, even God! one rests in the blue, because it skews the waters and the air with light strokes, with the heavenly imprint.
And he crucifies in white, filling with all righteousness as in the baptism of Jesus, and giving way to the surprises of the Spirit, of the help from on high, who gives high graces.
Mediator for her Son who gathers national prayer and acts as a bearer of popular demands; our advocate in the causes expressed as a cry for the needs and suffering of the nation.
Flanked by the divine jealousy of Mercedes and Carmen, Altagracia continues to cover her children with her starry cloak; choking the flames and smoke of hell as the “Gate of Heaven”, which will never be defeated by the gates of Hell.
Her image has consolidated the Dominican home that has always greeted her with gun salutes and praise, repeating in prayers and litanies the words of the Angel of the Lord and Saint Elizabeth. In a rosary that stops at stations of joy, pain, glory and light. And the land meditates in suffering with “God save you” the prophecies of glory that bring forth joy.
Therefore, the denomination of the Second Vatican Council was that the family is the small church already a life and a reality in the Dominican family; for indeed, among us it was already an authentic church because of the morning prayer and the evening rosary.
Moreover, in 1965, the proposal of Julio César Castaños Espaillat (at the Marian and Mariological Congress of that year) was already valid, for the same reasons to declare the Virgin Mary: Organizer of the Dominican Association.
The Virgin of Altagracia is carried away in processions and receives her children on pilgrimages at the end of the pilgrimages. And motherly welcomes the vows and promises of the faithful people. But it does not require or expect a commitment that will separate us from the ultimate destiny of Spirit and Truth worshipers. Because of the delicacy of heaven and the merits of her Son, she has become queen of the apostles, and of the pilgrims … I would say. For what are they more than men than the exiled sons of Eve?
She also reigns, as a reward for her faithfulness in the martyrdom of the Mother of God the Man, which came as a sign of contradiction; and, with the lot prophetically expressed by Simeon, that a sword should pierce her soul. So that the purpose of many hearts would be discovered, or whatever is the same thing, so that many people would attain sincerity of heart and see God. Therefore, today, the day of the Virgin of Altagracia, “protective and spiritual mother of the Dominican people”, I bow my grateful heart to the Mother of God; and I respectfully accept her motherhood. And as a child of the church, I approach, in the most popular and loving devotion, saying:
Save Chiquitica de Higüey!